Marcela introduction LT 130 Blog

Good afternoon!

I apologize for joining so late! But better late than never :)

My name is Marcela and this is my first year as a student here at Palomar College. I am 23 and have two younger sisters and one older brother. Some of my favorite things to do in my spare time are running, reading, drawing with oil pastels, going to the movies, sewing, and going out with my family. 

I became interested in the Library Technician Program after speaking about the duties and functions of the position with the library technician at the school where I used to work. I am currently working as a substitute paraducator, mostly as an Special Education Technician, for the San Diego Unified School District. 

At my previous position, I worked for several months one-on-one with an 18 year old  student with Rett Syndrome who enjoys reading stories about animals on her I-pad and the computer. I hope to learn more about how to use technology in a library in order to more effectively find age-appropriate books for children and also hope to learn about adapting books and stories for children with special needs through the use of technology.


again, nice to meet everyone!

Greetings from me!

Hello,

My name is Lauren Lane and I've been a Library Information Technology student for awhile now.  I work full time as a hotel manager so I've been plugging away one class at a time to earn my AA in library tech as well as certification.  I've had a lifelong love of reading and learning.  I'm very enthusiastic about this class in particular because I feel that there is a lot to learn when talking technology, especially when you are talking about technology in a library setting.  Thinking back to when I first went to the library as a four year old to now....the technological advancements are quite impressive.

When I'm not working or studying, you can find me at home with my husband and fur baby, Kaylee, the cat.  I love reading and I'm an avid comic book fan.  You'll find a stack of comics not far from my person when I'm hanging out at home.  Also, I am a big fan of any British show ever (Doctor Who, Upstairs, Downstairs, Downton Abbey, Gavin & Stacy, Sherlock, The IT Crowd, etc.) and you will frequently find me enjoying old episodes of Little House on the Prairie because why not?

I've flirted with a blog briefly a few years ago about fast food news (big fast food fan here!).  It didn't last for very long so I'm still pretty new to this technology.  I'm looking forward to what our blog becomes and I think this will be a great experience for all of us.

I've added all changes I've made to the blog here!

a note on labels and a suggestion on group editing

I added labels (also called markers or tags) to this blog.  I will tag posts that I wish to retain editorial control over with the label "Contributor Bill Dudley."  That means that I wish that no one else swoops in and edits or improves the post. If you see something in the post that glaringly needs improvement, please tell me in the comments; I will acknowledge and thank you for any advice I choose to heed.

For posts labeled "group documents" the reverse is true; please feel free to add or edit, like in the "changes made to the blog" post.  I foresee using our collective brains to create some group projects or documents in this blog. 

Introducing Bill

I will try to be brief.

I go by William or Bill (for some reason, "Bill" makes me feel older than William....maybe it's a baby boomer thing).

After years of working for a book publisher, I am now a substitute teacher and freelance writer who is studying to become a library technician. As it happens,  I have never been obsessive in the pursuit of money, although there are days I regret this.

I live in Santee with my wife of twenty-odd years and two girls, ages 10 and 13. My son goes to UCSD.

In the past three years of working as a sub teacher, I have seen an explosion in both  the numbers of students toting chromebooks or Ipads and teachers doing their assignments with Google docs and Google classroom.

I am still not quite sure what this blog will turn into, but I am looking forward to finding out.

Hailey's Introduction

Hey everyone!

I am excited to work on this blog and to really see how technology can be put into action and taught. My aspiration is to work in an elementary school library, a place where I certainly feel at home AND a place where I would love to make a difference. I am a Mom of three amazing, fun, spunky and clever kiddos, aged 8, 7 and 4. They make life exciting and I dread that they are growing up so quickly before my eyes, but eager for the opportunity to remain in their lives at school and do something that makes me feel good about my contribution to my community.

The library at my kids' school has recently gotten a facelift, replacing the computer lab for a "Kindle Nook", a large, centrally-located, area complete with couches, bean bag seating and 30 KindleFire devices. Chromebooks are taken to classes regularly throughout the week and other tablet-style devices are employed for reading activities and learning games. School isn't what it used to be and I'm prone to believe that utilizing the technology to teach is just as important as teaching how to use the technology. The kids need to see why these methods are being implemented and they need to learn how to use them themselves to become masters of new technologies and techniques.

Holly's Introduction

Hello,

I’m so excited to working on a blog. I would have never thought I would ever work on one and now I can see how having one for my school’s library would be helpful. Although I am still having a hard time figuring out how to do all this; I’m lucky to have my 11 year old helping me navigate it. 

I work as a volunteer in my kid’s elementary school, and mostly I deal with the circulation and shelving aspect of the library. I’m not sure really what our librarian does for the electronics / tech aspect at the school, but I’m looking forward to learning what she does. I’m especially excited to learn all the fun, cool things in the class to me to know more about technology. 

One thing that frustrates me is the fact that the librarian now has to also be the IT person at our school. A teacher today told me how happy that she is that the librarian can help her out with all her computers, and put the apps on the iPads that the kids use in class. I really wanted to give her a piece of my mind! How does she expect us to deal with all that, on top of running the “library” part of the library? It is way too much for one person to do. That is why I spend as much time in there helping as much as I can - plus I love every minute being with the kids. 

Again, I’m looking forward to the class, and hopefully it will change my view on all of these “Library Media Tech” job requirements. 

Holly

Introduction - Verna G.

Hi! My name is Verna G. and I work as a library media technician at an elementary school. I have a lot on my plate that includes taking care of textbooks, classroom materials, and student consumables, as well as running the library and interacting with the 22 classes that visit on a weekly basis.

Although there are iPad and Chromebook carts available, as well as a computer lab, technology has become such an important factor in my school that the staff would like to see more technology based interaction in the library as well.

I am excited to be working on this blog with this team and look forward to learning and implementing what we are working.

*All changes made can be found in the “Changes Made to theBlog” post.